Search Results for: label/new things

“Hey, hi! I like your haircut! I bet you want the Bun Chai with fried tofu and extra noodles, right? And hold the bean sprouts and basil, hmm? I’ll set aside a takeaway box for you right now because I know how you are, girl!”

This is the exchange that happens every time I go to Trieu Chau (which is, um, probably more than is healthy.) For as much traveling and new-stuff-trying as I do, I am deeply, dorkily a creature of habit.

I’ve been running (re: trudging at a slightly-faster-than-average-pace) the same set of stairs for aaaages.

And even though I’ve worked really hard to create this no-boss, work-from-anywhere life, I find myself wearing a rut into my days, doing the same (perfectly nice) things over and over and over.

So lately, I’ve been making a really concious effort to change things up. Many of the changes I’ve been making are laughably small. Ordering something different at Trieu Chau. Working from a different public library. VENTURING INTO AN EXCITING NEW WORLD OF MEAT ALTERNATIVES.

These changes are hardly earth shattering but they’re slowly adding up to a daily life that I’m more excited about and engaged in than ever.

With that in mind, here are 17 tiny little swap outs + changes you could try in your daily life. Really and truly, a change is as good as break!

1. Order a new hot beverage

Let’s talk tea. Or cider. Or an Americano. I’ve been surprising my barista every time I order something other than ‘a large cup of light roast for here.’

2. Buy a Groupon for a new restaurant in your neighborhood and order something you’ve never had

I frequent the same three restaurants in my neighborhood week after week. Why not pop over to Groupon, type in that zip code and buy the cheapest option you can find. You’ll keep money in your neighborhood, support a small business, and maybe find your new favorite hang out. (Earn good karma points by writing a positive review if you loved it!)

3. Construct an outfit around one of your closet orphans

You know what I’m talking about. Those cute pieces you never wear, gathering wrinkles at the back of your closet. Move them to the front and create an outfit around ‘em. And if you still don’t like them? Set aside a few hours for a closet purge.

4. House swap with friends for the weekend

I house swapped with a friend in L.A. a few years ago and it was woooonderful! But you can swap with a friend somewhere a lot closer to home. It’s fun spend the weekend anywhere new – even if it’s just an hour and a half away! See if any of your Facebook friend are keen to switch homes for a long weekend and then get to know a new city.

5. Take a different route (or type of transportation) to work

What if you took side streets instead of the highway? What if you took the train or the bus? Or your bike? You’ll meet new people and see new parts of your city from the back of bike or a train.

If you’re accustomed to a 5:50 am alarm or finishing work at 7 pm, life feels totally different when your workday leans to the left by a few hours. See if your boss is willing to switch your hours around for a week and then enjoy the luxury of sleeping in or finishing work by 3:30.

8. Take a new class at your gym

Of course (of course!) I’m all about Zumba and Hip Hop classes. But I’m working up the nerve to try a spin class (terrifying!) or something involving kettlebells. Join me?

9. Read a magazine about a topic you know nothing about

Reading an entire book on a topic you know nothing about is a bit of an undertaking, but a magazine? You can do that. Knitting! Cats! Woodworking!

10. Go to open mic night

They’re free, fascinating, and a great way to support independent coffee shops/bars/cafes and artists. Most cities have multiple open mics every night – in Minneapolis, the Acme Comedy open mic night is awesome/hilarious/horrible/scary.

11. Listen to a new radio station

Guys, I have recently become The Sort Of Person WHO LISTENS TO JAZZ. What?! 99% of the time I toggle between this hipster station and Top 40 foolishness but after hearing the same 10 songs on both stations I happened upon 88.5. Just this one little change has made my drives calmer and exponentially more mellow. What would happen if you changed the media you consumed? What if you navigated away from drive time djs who make sexist comments and use sound effects?

12. Switch your part

Allofasudden my hair is full of body and my scalp is all “What are you even doing?!”

13. Swap out your bedding for something totally different

My BFF introduced me to The Wonder That Is Patterned Sheets. And then if you use different, but coordinating patterns? It’s like you’re tucking yourself into a design book. Of course, sheets can be expensive so I’m a big fan of thrifting them. (Yes, I know some people find that vaguely disgusting but have you ever stayed in a hotel? Then you’ve slept on sheets that other people have slept on.)

14. Go to an international grocery store and buy a bunch of things you’ve never tried

Does every lunch break involve your work BFF and the same table by the window? What if you sat with Megan from accounting? Or Brandon from marketing? You might make a new buddy or get to sample those cupcakes Brandon’s always mowing.

17. Rent a car that’s totally unlike yours for the weekend

Slightly extravagant? Yes. Totally fun? Also yes. If you’re a minivan driver, experience the wonder of a zippy little Mini for the weekend. Rent a convertible for a weekend of leaf-ogling. Rent something with four-wheel drive and explore dirt roads. (Hotwire and AAA are great for car rental discounts!)

How do you get out of a rut? What little changes would you add to this list?

Each year on my birthday, I make a list of new things I want to try. Some are hard, some are easy and shockingly mundane. You can read about previous new things here.

Guys, I’ve reached that point in my life where I’m (slightly) less interested in sleeping on the ground.

Maybe I’m getting old or maybe I’m getting fancy, but the thought of zipping myself into a tent and sleeping on an air mattress is slowly beginning to lose its appeal. I’m not saying I’ll never camp again … but I am saying that I’d like 1:1 ratio of nights in a tent to nights at an Airbnb.

That being said, I’m not quite ready to start dropping $300 a night on hotels or only staying at Best Westerns out by the airport. I want something one step up from a tent but still outdoorsy enough that I’ll return home pleasantly dirty and smelling slightly of woodsmoke and bugspray.

Where is this hallowed middle ground, friends? Where can I sleep in a bed but still get that self-congratulatory feeling of being all Paul Bunyon-y?

Yurts, guys. Yurts are the answer to this age old question.

And what, pray tell, is a yurt? As defined by Wikipedia it’s a “a portable, bent dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia as their home.” So basically – fancier than a tent, less fancy than a cabin.

In a word: perfect.

Here’s a True/False quiz to help you figure out if you should stay in a yurt:

1. T/F Breakfasts taste best when prepared on a super old fashioned gas stove.

2. T/F The lighting from Coleman lanterns is both flattering and nicely scented.

3. T/F Sleeping in a queen-sized sleeping bag on a futon with my partner is both fun and romantic!

4. T/F A total lack of cell phone signal, gps, and internet is awesome and freeing! No, this doesn’t not need to be Instagrammed!

5. T/F Seeing a mother moose on your half-mile walk back to where you parked the car is a great way to start the day.

6. T/F It’s pretty nice to have a little lake all to yourself.

7. T/F I enjoy boiling water to wash my dishes!

8. T/F Outhouses are grreeeat!

9. T/F Mosquitos and wood ticks are no big deal. Complaining is for wussies.

10. T/F Falling asleep to the sound of rain, 20 miles from the nearest town is lovely.

Yes, I once had a very unpleasant food-poisoning experience on a train in India (but that hasn’t changed my feelings one bit).

So when I popped out to LA for a spontaneous meet up with Alex, it made ‘perfect sense’ that I end my trip with a 23-hour train ride to Portland. Was there any particular reason for me to go to Portland? No.

Unless by ‘reason’ you mean ‘want to.’

The Coast Starlight Train is a particularly well-equipped, nicely-maintained Amtrak train that runs daily from L.A. to Seattle. For $114 I got a one-way ticket from L.A. to Portland and the honor of sleeping in a (large, reclining, lots-of-leg-space-having) chair.

And, yes, at the risk of being predictable, it was fairly magical.

It’s lovely to slip through parts of the city that are far from the freeway, peering into people’s backyards, watching men take smoke breaks outside a factory, watching as the graffiti turns into suburbs. I loved passing through little farming towns at sunset, imagining what it would be like to grow up there and clickity clacking through super remote parts of Cascade mountains, while eating a black bean burger in the dining car and chatting with a nice couple from London.

Because the main intention of my trip was getting everything I needed into a carry-on and wearing L.A.-worthy clothes, I was not, perhaps, as prepared for my train adventure as I could have been. Be ye not so stupid as me.

Tips to make your train trip (even more) awesome

1. Bring a pillow and blanket

Sleeper cars are car-razy expensive and the seats on Amtrak are reasonably comfortable. However, you’re not going to receive one of those sweet little packs that airlines sometimes hand out. So bring your best real-sized pillow, a fleece blanket, an eye mask, and ear plugs.

2. Pack a picnic

You can buy your meals on the train and you should buy at least one – it’s fun! But the quality of the meal for the price is a bit ‘meh.’ Over the course of 23 hours I had one real meal and a lot of Doritos and yogurt. Not my best work. So pack a bag of fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks.

3. Put your ever-loving phone away

Amtrak famously does not have wifi but if you’ve got a data plan, you can access the web on the less-remote parts of the trip. But how about you don’t? That’s not what we’re here for.

4. Make friends!

I had some great conversations on my trip and met a pile of fascinating people. A 24-year-old WWOOFer (we discussed OKCupid at length), a pair of elderly British sisters, an 11-year-old boy who was visiting his mom for the summer, a 50-something couple who worked in education. When you eat in the dining car, you’ll be seated with strangers and, weird as it sounds, IT IS SO FUN.

5. Try to sit with another lady

If you’re traveling by yourself, know that there is no dividing armrest between the seats and come night time, it’s a bit awkward to be sleeping so close to an unknown dude. When I first boarded the train, I was seated next to a guy who was also going all the way to Portland. When the conductor took our tickets and realized we weren’t traveling together, she swapped our seats so I could sit next to another woman, which I really appreciated.

Every year I make a list of new things I want to try. Some of them are easy, some are hard, some are shockingly mundane. You can read about past shenanigans here.

Here is my list of favorite animals:
1. Otters
2. Prairie dogs
3. Manatees(Cats aren’t on this list because they’re not so much a ‘favorite animal’ as an ‘overarching theme in my life/family member’.)

And once I discovered the Calming Manatee meme, it was all over. Life pretty much became a hunt for opportunities to encounter a cow of the sea and maaaaaybe touch his sweet whiskery face if he’d let me. So when I started planning a trip to Mexico and discovered Xel-ha and their manatee swimming offerings – well, there were lots of emails written in all caps.

Let us a take a moment to acknowledge that interacting with non-domesticated animals is not totally unproblematic. Swimming with a clever mammal who was raised in the wild and now lives in a swimming pool isn’t very nice, is it? So I spent a bit of time researching Xel-ha was relieved to discover that their manatees were rescues (or born in captivity from their rescued parents) and are part of research program about endangered animals in captivity. Of slightly less importance: THEIR NAMES ARE PUG NOSE AND LITTLE BEAN. A list of awesome things about this experience:

* Learning that their names are Pug Nose and Little Bean (this bears repeating)
* Learning about their favorite foods and then feeding Little Bean broccoli and apples and feeling his sweet whiskery mouth on my hand
* Just generally looking at his little teddy bear face and imagining him saying calming things to me
* Shaking flippers with him
* Watching his little nose sniff at the surface of the water
* Patting his soft, algae covered back
* Swimming in his general vicinity and feeling zen and joyful.

In April, my dude and I are heading to Tampa for a conference and mermaids and we’re also hoping to kayak the Weeki Wachee river and see even mooooore manatees. Though I imagine those manatees won’t be named Little Bean.

Each year I make a list of new things I want to try. Some are easy, some are difficult, some are so mundane you’ll think “Have you been living under a rock, Von Bargen?” You can read about past adventures here.

Growing up on a lake in Minnesota, I spent approximately *90% of my childhood in the water. I canoed out to the nearest island, took a million years of swimming lessons, spent a lot of time throwing things in the water and then retrieving them.

So when I heard about the limestone swimming holes of the Yucatan I thought

a) “Hooray! A new body of water to swim in!”

b) (“But really it’s just a swimming hole, right?”)

You guys, cenotes are The Most Magical Swimming Holes That Have Ever Happened. They’re insanely, unnervingly clear and deep and like something out of an 80’s movie involving adventures, and teenagers, and maybe a airplane crash on an island.

Technically, a cenote is “a natural pit, or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath.” Realistically, they’re magic, all over the Yucatan peninsula, and cheap to visit.

My friend and I showed up at Crystal Cenote outside of Tulum dorkily early and happily paid $7 to spend as much time as we wanted at two different cenotes. We padded down a short path to a swimming hole that looked like something from Goonies.

* Tall diving platform? Check.
* Rope swing? Check.
* Ropes strung across the hole so you can sit on them (or walk on them and pretend you’re a tightrope walker. You know. Hypothetically.)
* Smart little fox dog who leads you down the path and watches over you
* Water that’s so clear you’re not sure how deep it is and sort of have to give yourself a pep talk to jump in

We spent the next three hours as the only swimmers at the cenote, taking turns on the diving platform, and sitting on the ropes watching our shadows on the rocks beneath us. Amazing. If you’re traveling through the Yucatan make sure you stop at a few!Have you ever swum in a cenote? And was it insanely magical?

Each year I make a list of new things I want to try. Some are easy, some are difficult, some are shockingly mundane. You can read about past shenanigans here.

As I’ve probably mentioned about a million times on this blog, I’m a third generation Minnesotan of Scandinavian heritage. This means I’m blonde, I know how to layer in cold weather, I can make lots of dishes involving potatoes, and I’m decent at just about any activity involving water/ice/snow.

The state I call home boasts 10,000+ lakes and six months of winter. This means that much of the year those thousands of lakes are covered in ice and enterprising, brave souls drill holes through said ice to catch fish. Growing up on a lake in rural Minnesota means I knew how to set a hook from a young age and I spent many, many Saturdays playing Crazy Eights in my dad’s ice fishing house.

If you don’t know, a fish house is a little shanty that anglers sit in while they catch fish through holes in the ice. There are removeable sections of floor so the anger can drill a hole through the ice, fish from the comfort of his house, cover the hole back up, and then stride around his house without dunking his/her foot in ice water. Fish houses can be portable and made from canvas or fully insulated with beds, stoves, tables, and a functioning television. (They’re pretty much adult playhouses/forts but don’t tell my dad I said that.)

I’ve spent plenty of time ice fishing, but I’ve never spent the night in a fish house because, well, we’re not that fancy. But when my old friend Matt offered to let me spend the night in one of the swanky fish houses he rents to clients, I thought I’d be remiss in my duty as a Minnesotan if I didn’t take him up on it.

How swanky was this fish house?
* There were electric lights (powered by a hidden car battery)
* There was a two-burner stove (and cups/plates/silverware)
* There were four comfy beds
* Most importantly, there was a super effective, propane-fueled heater. Which was nice, since it got down to -22 the night we slept on Lake Bemidji

So what, exactly, do you do in a fishhouse for 10 hours? Well, if you’re me, you
* Catch a fish and then feel really bad about it
* Put it in the ice bucket and then stress out about it

* Decide that the catfish minnow is cuter than all the other minnows
* Go on a gas station run so you can use their bathroom/buy Snyder’s honey mustard pretzels

* Ask your super sweet boyfriend if he’ll take the live minnows off the hooks because now you’re sad about them. Swim free little buddies! I’m sorry we put hooks in you!
* Read portions of your business book aloud
* Drink creepy pre-packaged, crassly named shots

* Take the fish out of the ice bucket and put it back in the hole. Give it a pep talk. Get nervous it’s dead.
* Dump the live minnows down the hole because you’re now completely consumed with guilt.
* Put on your hat. Take off your boots. You’re hot. Now you’re not hot enough.
* Take phone calls and text message from concerned parties. No, you’re not going to fall through the ice/freeze to death/asphyxiate.
* After all that fun, fall asleep by 10 pm.

We woke up in a comfortably heated ice house to a gorgeous sunrise and shocking temperatures. We ate some cereal for breakfast (we’d put the milk carton on the floor of the fish house and it stayed appropriately cool), bundled up, and started the long drive home.

All in all, an awesome adventure. I’d totally sleep in the fish house again – but I’ll leave the fishing to someone else.

Each year on my birthday, I make a list of new things I want to try. Some are hard, some are easy, some are shockingly mundane. You can read about previous adventures here.

Growing up, I didn’t particularly care about movies. I spent most of my time swimming, constructing weird tree forts, and writing stories about pioneer mice families.

As such, I’ve managed to reach adulthood without seeing, oh, most every movie. I didn’t see Goonies till I was 21 (and that’s not a great age to see it for the first time), I’ve seen The Princess Bride once, and my only knowledge of Casablanca was based on all those times it was referenced on The Simpsons. But! I am always on a quest to see if classics are Any Good, so a few months ago some girlfriends and I piled onto the couch, made some thematic food, and borrowed the DVD from the library.

In case you don’t know, Casablanca is a movie set during WWII in the largest city in Morocco. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is an exiled American and former freedom fighter who now runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining a Czechoslovak underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick’s surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick’s one-time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit.

As you probably know, it’s a really good movie. The story is interesting, it’s well-acted, and you probably wouldn’t see the end coming – if it wasn’t completely embedded in pop culture at this point.

Here are some observations we made while viewing Casablanca:

* The Rick/Ilsa age gap is, um, uncomfortable making. If we did the math right, his character is 16 years older than her. And she was, like, 19 when they met? Dude. Leave it alone.

Each year on my birthday I make a list of new things I want to try. Some of them are easy, some are hard, some are shockingly mundane. You can read about past adventures here.

I like to think of myself as a Serious Reader. I did my undergrad in English Literature, I’m part of a book club, and, well, my love for books is such that I dressed my cat in literature-inspired costumes and made a calendar out of those photos.

And yet. It’s been a looooong time since I’ve read something ‘challenging.’ My taste in books runs towards funny, self-deprecating memoirs and essays (Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, Bill Bryson, Cheryl Strayed). And while these writer are warm and funny and big-hearted and occasionally thought-provoking they rarely use words I need to look up. They rarely present a moral quandary that I wrestle with.

“Oh, Bill! You and your hijinks! Don’t invite your crazy friend from high school to go hiking with you! What self-respecting hiker brings canned food?!” Chucklechucklechuckle.

If you didn’t know, Lolita is the story of Humbert Humbert and Dolores Haze. Humbert is a French literary scholar who is handsome, a bit emotionally fragile, and a pedophile. Dolores (nicknamed Lolita) is the flirty, precocious 12-year-old daughter of Humbert’s single-mother landlord.

Humbert falls in love with Lolita and marries her mother who is hit by a car and killed while Lolita is at summer camp. Humbert picks Lolita up from camp and after she discovers her mother is dead, Lolita initiates a sexual interaction with Humbert. The two have a sort of father/daughter/lover relationship that lasts for a few years before Lolita runs away with another middle-aged man.

I won’t ruin the ending for you because you really, really should read it.

Why is Lolita challenging?

I found myself empathizing with a pedofile. Humbert really, truly loves Lolita and when she rebuffs him he’s crushed. And who among us hasn’t experienced that?

It brings up so, so many questions. Where’s the line between love and obsession? What does it mean to be a family? Is it possible for a 12-year-old girl to sexually consent? What is the real root of pedophilia?

Also? Nabokov’s writing is dense and interesting and clever. His turns of phrase are laugh-out-loud funny and Humbert’s self-awareness is hugely disarming.

Some of my favorite passages:

“I sat with arms folded, one hip on the window sill, dying of hate and boredom.”

“I think I had better describe her right away to get it over with.”

“Just slap her hard if she interferes with your scholarly meditations. How I love this garden [no exclamation point in her tone]. Isn’t it divine in the sun [no question mark either].”

” … while fat Avis sidled up to her papa, Lolita gently beamed at a fruit knife that she fingered on the edge of the table, whereon she leaned, many miles away from me. Suddenly, as Avis clung to her father’s neck and ear while, with a casual arm, the man enveloped his lumpy and large offspring, I saw Lolita’s smile lose all its light and become a frozen little shadow of itself, and the fruit knife slipped off the table and struck her with its silver handle a freak blow on the ankle which made her gasp, and crouch head forward, and then jumping on one leg, her face awful with the preparatory grimace which children hold till the tears gush, she was gone – to be followed at once and consoled in the kitchen by Avis who had such a wonderful fat pink dad and a small chubby brother, and a brand-new baby sister, and a home, and two grinning dogs, and Lolita had nothing.”

“His nurse, a skeleton thin, faded girl with the tragic eyes of unsuccessful blondes, rushed after me so as to be able to slam the door in my wake.”

“Readers will surely recall at this point the obligatory scenes of westerns from their childhood. Our tussle, however, lacked the ox-stunning fisticuffs, the flying furniture. He and I were two large dummies, stuffed with dirty cotton and rags. It was a silent, soft, formless, tussle on the part of two literati, one of whom was utterly disorganized by a drug while the other was handicapped by a heart condition and too much gin.”

Have you read Lolita? What did you think? What other classics live up to their reputation?

Each year I make a list of new things I want to try. Some are easy, some are hard, some are shockingly mundane. You can read about past adventures here.

Have you guys ever had an unshakeable sense that you’re going to be good at something?

And this belief is based on, well, nothing?

Despite a total lack of evidence, I’m fairly sure I’d be really good (re: not terrible) at:
1. batting cages*
2. riding a mechanical bull
3. dancing in a tiny, sparkly outfit in a Carnivale parade

So, armed with nothing more than my hubris, a friend and I showed up at the batting cages on a cold Thursday night. Said friend regularly plays baseball, has kids in little league, and is one of those people who played varsity sports.

I was a state-level competitor in choir, dance, one-act, and speech. And yet! I was completely convinced that I’d be good at this.

So after I dramatically posed next to a giant poster of Minnesota Twins legend Dave Winfield and found the one helmet that fit my giant head, I sidled into the cage and prepared to hit slow pitch softballs.

And you guys! I was good! Or rather “totally good enough to play on a co-ed softball team” as my friend said. Over the course of three rounds of batting, I missed 6 or so balls, which I felt was pretty good since I hadn’t picked up a bat since fifth grade.

Next up? 9 holes of golf. Which, oddly, I’m convinced I’ll be bad at.

Are you athletic? What are the things that (regardless of experience) you’re convinced you’d be good at if you tried it just once?* Note: this is not the same as being a productive member of a softball team. I’m a terrible throw and I’m not really a team player. There. I said it.

I’m not sure why, but most people have Feelings about White Castle.Lots of people think it’s disgusting. Some people looooove it (one friend’s husband gets W.C. gift cards for his birthday from everyone he knows.) There was an entire movie based around it. Is it socio economic snobbery? Is the food actually gross? Why do people care if I’m eating sliders or not?

You should also know that I’m one of those people who eats things like chia seed pudding and ezekiel bread. I very, very rarely eat meat and I consider medjool dates a special sweet treat. So I’m basically totally insufferable.

With all of this in mind, I met two friends for dinner at the White Castle on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. I emotionally prepared myself for a dirty lobby and grease-soaked to-go bags (which is my experience in pretty much every fast food place I’ve ever eaten) and was pleasantly surprised to find an incredibly clean restaurant and super helpful staff.

Here’s what I ordered and what I thought:

Original slider

rating: two stars
Not totally awful! Granted, I only took one hesitant bite but I didn’t want to throw up in my mouth! It was super soft and, um, moist and onion-y. It sort of reminded me of a not-too-sloppy sloppy joe. Apparently, sliders are steamed rather than fried which actually makes them significantly healthier than most fast food red meat options.

Barbeque chicken rings
rating: three stars
So, these consist of bits of processed chicken, fused into ring shapes, fried, covered in barbecue-flavored powder. They taste fake and processed and also pretty good.

Onion chips with zesty sauce
rating: five stars
Oh what’s that? An ‘awesome blossom’ for a fraction of the price that’s easier to eat? INTO IT.

Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce

rating: five stars
FRIED CHEESE IS NEVER NOT GOOD. It should be available everywhere.

In summary, I really don’t understand what the fuss is about. Why are people so eager to hate on what seems to be a perfectly average fast food restaurant? Will I be eating there regularly? No. Is it worse than McDonalds or Burger King or Taco Bell? Also no. It’s just a fast food place that makes fried cheese more readily available to the masses.

How you do feel about White Castle? Why do people have such strong feelings about it?

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